Bright lights! An abundance of color! A cacophony of laughter and delighted (?) shrieks! Welcome, everyone, to the carnival! Enough of those nonsense protein shakes and that hoity-toity recycling; it's time to let loose, have some fun, and live a little! No judgment will be allowed today, not when everyone’s dressed up in ridiculous costumes and eating those unnecessarily huge turkey legs (it... is turkey, right?). For you see, CERES has invited the Traveling Circus of Tjghsldiwk (they hail from a different planet, but here's a hint: the h is silent) to bring some joy to the colonists. This is a safe place to let your inner wild child out, really. Definitely safe. Promise.
Yet for those who are a little less easily convinced to follow the sounds of laughter and amusement (bless your sensible hearts), they will find themselves grabbed and forcibly dragged by a pair of friendly souls in matching costumes. Everyone should be able to enjoy the festivities, don’t you think? Can’t have them missing out on all this jolly good, innocent fun!
The Public Announcement System crackles with... well, a fit of coughing first. But then a gravelly voice speaks! It seems the ringmaster has an announcement for you all. What joyous news can he bring?  Listen... I know that we’re supposed to keep these idiots entertained for at least another day or two but the machinery’s starting to complain. I think I heard the gates of the petting zoo groan – they’re on their last legs.
... Wait, this isn’t the direct line
Oh.
Ohohoho!! Have a great time, everyone! Everything is perfectly fine!
|
PHASE I [ 11 00 ] Come one, come all!! There’s quite a large amount of people here, isn’t there? You’ll find yourself tugged this way and that – up until you get dragged right into a changing booth. The helpful attendant meets you with a worryingly large grin – how is her face not breaking? – before pushing you right through the curtain. Then you’ll be given your choice of one of these lovely garments to change into. Look, one of them has to match your skintone, right? Don’t be picky about it! You also have... 90 seconds to figure out how to wear it before you’re tossed out into the middle of the crowd again. Have a good festival!
If you’re not willing to put on the outfits though, that’s fine. Instead, they’ll top you off with a cape and crown, shoving you out onto a... stage? Your adoring public cheers for you, yells your name, and throws confetti in your honor! Then a jester appears again, announcing your grand title:
The Ugliest in All of Cerealia.
Don't worry, that's just your introduction to the carnival; enjoy the rest of your time here! (They may or may not have given you back your clothing.)
PHASE II [ 1600 ] Do you hear that? Cymbals crashing together, trumpets blaring off-tune, the march of absurdly tired feet – a parade is coming! Best move off to the side before an acrobat quite literally tumbles into you. If you are an unfortunate casualty, they’ll actually just start to fall asleep on you because they’re tired… so very, very tired.
Yet the parade continues to march on without them and you can let yourself be distracted by the impressive jumping around and festive partygoers (who seem to be joining in the parade as they please, in various states of undress). But be wary. Distraction will only make you easier prey for the very hungry caterpillar that’s coming up the street next. Run if you can, but it has so very many legs and it’s coming after you.
For those unable to make it away from the caterpillar, they will find themselves gulped right into its gross, drooling mouth – and about five minutes later, they’ll be released out again onto the streets covered in a pink slime. It looks like you won't be able to free yourself from the stuff, so hopefully you can find a friend to get some help! Or one of the strangers around you? Unfortunately, when a kind soul finally comes by to pull you out of the slime, they’ll find that the outside of the gunk is not only immensely sticky but also slippery. If they're not careful, you'll both end up stuck to the gunk together.
You both better get out of that stuff quick because once someone joins you, the slime starts to move. Quick and gooey, it'll pull you and the hapless soul with you down the street at a much too quick pace. Hopefully you won't slide into too many people as you skid your way through the streets of the Entertainment District like some sort of demented Katamari Ball. This is why you should never trust giant bugs!
PHASE III [ xxxx ] In a smaller booth, toward the outskirts of the carnival, some may find a familiar face manning a quiet little shack on her own. Although those who have been in the colony long enough may have first encountered her as an 8-bit version of herself, Aria the fortune-teller is now back and more than willing to drag unsuspecting people into her hands again. Once you step into her stall, she takes one long look at you before sliding over a fortune cookie and a mask. What do you mean you didn’t ask for a mask? That's too bad, because it's yours now. She won't say anything more than that, giving nothing more than a quiet dismissal with a hand and an enigmatic smile to match.
When you step back outside, you’ll find that you just can’t get rid of the mask. If you toss it into a trash bin, it’ll be right back in your pocket. Throw it at a friend? It’ll be in your hand in the next second. Throw it away enough times and it’ll suddenly plant itself on your face -- which leads to all the alien carnival goers in the nearby vicinity suddenly going still with fear before moving to get as far away from you as quickly as possible. Well... you seem to be able to take it off for now if you still want to enjoy the carnival. It just won't go away, and every time you try to throw it away, it'll attach itself to your face. Might as well just keep it.
But... still, it's strange how none of the aliens running the carnival will look you in the eye now, isn't it?
PHASE IV [ 1200 ] For those who aren’t interested in dealing with the abundance of people, there’s also an assortment of critters gathered around for the petting zoo! They all seem to follow a general theme… kind of. That might be floppy ears and a tail if you... squint. The alien staff is right there and quick to ask you not to worry, they're perfectly harmless -- they don't eat humans! It would be bad for their diet, so feel free to pet them, if you can gather enough courage to do so.
Unfortunately, it seems as though this part of the circus was not put together very well; the rickety fences and cages don't really seem to do much against these giant...creatures. Towards the end of the circus' time here, it looks like those cages will start breaking down more and more, too.
The animals rattle the makeshift fences of the petting zoo, until finally, the fences just... collapse. Oops. The ground shakes as the animals stomp and immediately move to break out of their little ring. Well, would you look at that? You’ve apparently found yourself in the middle of a little stampede -- and those warnings about these animals not eating humans doesn't seem to hold much weight when now they're looking at you -- and they look pretty hungry.
BONUS [ why o'clock ] Left and right, there are voices shouting for your attention. "Hey pretty young miss!" or "Excuse me, you stud!" or "Look at this, jackass!" – that said, aliens think that you all manage to look the same, so who knows if they’re yelling at you in particular – and they’re all daring you to come and try your hand at their carnival game.
It’s run of the mill stuff: shooting games, tests of strength, and knocking down a couple of milk bottles. You might actually be doing well! Or... you might be embarrassing yourself in front of whatever cute person you’re trying to impress! But regardless, in the last allotted ten seconds of your game, no matter what, you’ll find your point score plummeting right into the negatives. Did you get a bullseye? What do you know, that’s now worth -1000 points! You missed? -5000 points.
The stall assistant seems to be having a grand old time, laughing at your pain and when the clock finally runs out, they'll give you a large grin. "Look at that score! Well, you know what that means, don’t you? Now, we win you!" With that, metallic tentacles suddenly sprout from the booth itself, looking to capture you and whoever you’re with. Welcome to the carnival, now you're one of the prizes. And it seems you'll be here for quite some time. That is, of course, unless someone can win you back from these really horribly rigged games.
Looks like you'd better get comfortable hanging motionless from a display, like an oversized stuffed animal. You'll be here for a while.
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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no subject
[Viridi doesn't bother looking up.]
I'm not hurt but I can think of someone who might be in a few seconds if they keep talking.
[She glowers as she rolls over to glance at her tormentor.]
Ugh, what are you supposed to be? I don't recall authorizing the creation of actual trolls. ...Just internet ones
no subject
[ Styx narrows his eyes right back at her, ignoring that quip about that newfangled internet thing. No way she's from his world, so she can't possibly know about the actual origin of goblins, right? ]
I'm a goblin. And I'm pretty damn sure I ain't scheduled to meet my maker today.
no subject
Oh. I've heard of you. No, you definitely don't fall under my domain. Let me guess; you're sorted somewhere with the elves and the trolls and the orcs under High Fantasy.
[Oddly enough, this means her attitude is infinitely better than it would be for a human. Viridi scoots to the edge and hops off the lilypad, dusting off her dress.]
As fascinating as it is to meet a new species, I don't really have time for this. Where's the exit?
no subject
[ He's been here long enough to resign himself to the little quirks of Cerealia. Styx eyes the girl just a little more warily; here, people who talk nonsense are either crazy or more powerful than he'd like to deal with. ]
[ That's not gonna stop him from running his mouth off, though. ]
Okay, hold up a sec. First off, I've never seen a troll in my life. Second, there's nothing ~high fantasy~ about my home, unless you count blood, filth, and copious amounts of violence. And third, the hell do you mean by "domain"?
no subject
High Fantasy is a genre of l -- Never mind. Just pretend I didn't say anything. I've just heard stories about worlds where species like yours exist, alright? If you have trouble suspending your disbelief, just assume I heard them from the people here.
And hell is Hades's domain. Mine is Earth. Earth and All Life.
[As if to illustrate her point, she bangs her staff against the ground and a series of stalagmites jut up to form a perfectly comfortable chair. Viridi hops back and reclines.]
You're looking at the Goddess of Nature. Feel free to fall prostrate.
no subject
[ He'll even let that eye rollingly condescending manner slide!! For now. 'Sides, he's got more pressing things to deal with, like a precocious kid magician with a god complex.
internal screaming intensifies]... uh huh. [ If that skeptical tone of voice isn't obvious enough... well, there's a distinct lack of prostration from Styx. He seems more interested in that improvised chair, prodding it with a finger. ] Okay, I'll admit, that's a neat trick. Between rocks and lily pads, though, I'm not seeing a consistent nature theme. And why's the Goddess of Nature a tiny human child, anyway?
no subject
[Viridi sounds disgusted.]
Humans look like us because we shaped them in our image. To a certain extent, we take on appearances that they're more comfortable with. In the beginning, they were supposed to be ones closest to the gods.
[She doesn't feel like elaborating on her youthfulness.]
And I told you. I'm the Goddess of Nature and the Ruler of the Earth. The planet is mine to shape to my whims. ...Well. Poseidon gets the oceans and there's a few minor forest and mountain deities here and there. But mostly it's mine.
no subject
Humans? Closest to the gods? You're kidding, right? Because I'm just gonna have to throw this out there, the VAST majority of them have fallen, y'know, just a little short of that.
[ The goblin shakes his head. Right, getting a little sidetracked. ]
Anyway, how's that even work? Even if you're a goddess, you're sorta not on Earth anymore.
no subject
[She gives a faint shudder.]
And the worst of it is how defensive they get when you call them out. 'But Viridi! It's not my fault another 10 species just went extinct!' 'But Viridi! The polar ice caps were melting, anyway.' 'But Viridi! What do you want me to do? I just can't stop eating hamburgers!'
Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh! I hate them.
[This is either a child throwing a petty tantrum or a powerful goddess uttering condemnation upon millions of people. ...Or both. As she stamps her foot against the ground, the earth trembles just a tad bit.]
My powers don't derive from faith or from... anything, really. Since we're supposedly exact data copies of our past selves, I can still do anything I want.
...Actually, I'm trusting you not to tell anyone else, but I'm only at about 20% here. Obviously, they've limited me so I can't just wipe out this whole city. I'm going to pretend I can, though, just since it's fun to see the humans grovel.
no subject
I know, right? Half the time, they can't even admit that they're wrong about something! It's always "this animal's too tasty, of course we'd eat 'em all," or "this resource is too valuable, of course we'd strip mine a magical forest to get at it."
[ ... or, okay, she can let slip an interesting little tidbit of information, that's totally okay with him, too. Styx tries to look as trustworthy as possible- which isn't very- but for what it's worth, he means what he says- ]
Cross my heart, I won't tell another living soul.
[ Technically because he doesn't want to occur a goddess's wrath, but also- more cynically- he isn't sure anyone will believe him in the first place. Anyway, he gets the sense that he's preaching to the choir here, but still- ]
But yeah, can't blame you for keeping that private. Humans tend to go hog wild if they sniff out even the slightest bit of weakness, and then it's all angry crusades and morally righteous "we are the truly blessed!" and all that shit.
no subject
[She's so pleased to be speaking with someone who finally understands her point that she can overlook the general shiftiness of the goblin.]
Well, I've had just about enough of that. All of the world's living creatures are my children. Not just the apes we decided were worth a little more attention. And since they've been declaring war against me ever since they crawled out of their caves, I've decided it's time to bring the fight to them.
[Viridi sits proudly within the throne of her own self-righteousness as she beams beatifically.
...Then her smile drops.]
Well, I mean, that was the plan. Now I'm... stuck in a mandatory circus watching people parade around being declared the Ugliest.
...I'm going to mark this off as a filler century.
no subject
[ Styx pauses, making a face as something belatedly occurs to him. ]
... okay, wait, as much as I love hearing about how you're gonna usher in an age of darkness to humanity at large- [ because outside of a few isolated individuals he's more or less befriended, it's no skin off HIS back ] - are you saying this place is stopping you from leaving?
no subject